Focusing on self-renewing processes, not projects – an example

Perhaps a concrete example can ground our discussion to make it clearer and more understandable where we stand in the overall process and the pitfalls that face the combined analytical and functional teams.

Let's use the example of retail store site selection. Before the widespread use of data and analytics, organizations had site selection teams that performed research on the proposed region, markets, and neighborhoods; visited prospective locations; scouted sites; and spent time talking with local business people, local governing bodies, landlords, real estate agents, brokers, and others. They compiled briefing books on the various options and made presentations to management regarding their process and the locations that the site selection team felt were the best bets. This process could take weeks to months to possibly years.

Why is this traditional process not optimal and why does this type of...